England eyes 'Origin' of its own

England is looking for ways to replicate State of Origin to boost its competitiveness on the international rugby league stage.

The English are considering fixtures against a team of England-based Australian and New Zealand players in a Barbarians-style concept.

Ahead of Sunday night's Four Nations must-win encounter with Australia in Melbourne, England coach Steve McNamara acknowledges his side has an inability to compete for the full 80 minutes.

They had a poor start in their opening match against New Zealand and could not peg back an 18-0 lead, eventually losing 24-10.

In last year's Four Nations final against the Kangaroos they led early but the Australians steamrolled them in the second half.

McNamara says that despite some of his players playing 36 matches a year they did not have as much experience in high-intensity football.

"Part of our problems, our issues, is that we don't get that intensity too many times as a group," McNamara said.

"I think the concept (of playing England-based Australian and New Zealand players) is very good and I think it could create an intense game, or two games or three games.

"We just haven't got anything that rivals Origin.

"I look at that with a little bit of envy because I see all the international players for Australia playing in those games and they're not only getting the week-in week-out intensity of the NRL, but it goes up to a different stage in the Origin.

"It's a fantastic concept and gives your players an advantage when it comes to players being compared at the highest level.

"We don't want to copy what you do in Australia, but we need to find something to give our players the opportunity at a higher level more regularly."

McNamara says playing the Kangaroos on Sunday holds no fear for his young team.

"We've got to beat Australia in Australia's backyard, but it's been done before and we'll certainly be ready for it," he said.

"The players are very excited about the challenge.

"As a country we've got some long-term plans in place to be ready for the 2013 World Cup, but we'd love to pick something off before we get to this stage."

McNamara is likely to bring in another new face against Australia with Tony Clubb, whose only previous international experience came in a Tri-Nations warm-up match against Wales two years ago, or Leroy Cudjoe vying to replace injured centre Michael Shenton.

Among the other options being considered is a reshuffle of the back division, with Sam Tomkins going to full-back, Gareth Widdop to centre and Luke Robinson starting at half-back.

However, McNamara will keep changes to a minimum after being encouraged by his team's second-half performance against New Zealand.